Collection has become more important in recent years as insurers are moving to shift more costs to patients in the form of deductibles, co-pays, and implementation of Health Savings plans. Because of this shift, your accounts receivable (AR) process must be effective in order to maintain a healthy cash flow.
An effective accounts receivable process means that your staff is trained to work with patients who have not completed their payment obligations. Of course, the best strategy is to collect in full at the time of the procedure. But when a patient leaves with a credit balance, how does your staff proceed with the collection process?
Do they treat your patients with respect and understanding? Or do they strictly follow procedures without empathy or consideration for unique circumstances?
There needs to be a human element to your accounts receivable process.In this post we explore ways in which your AR staff can show respect to patients throughout the collection process, and by doing so, improve the accounts receivable process at your practice.
Assume the patient wants to pay
Avoid treating the patient as an adversary. Your AR staff should always start under the assumption that the patient wants to pay.
Health care is a service. Therefore, care must be taken to train your collection staff how to deal with patients sensitively. They must be able to evaluate the reasons behind nonpayment, and to distinguish excuses from valid reasons.
Sometimes nonpayment is the result of dissatisfaction with the services received. In this case, your staff must be empathetic to the patient’s point of view and work to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
Your staff should always be working to build a desire within the patient to cooperate with you rather than fueling an adversarial relationship.
Be empathetic yet firm with your procedures
Your AR staff should be firm with the practice’s financial policy, but never at the expense of being polite and respectful. They need to be sensitive to a patient’s repayment difficulties that may be exacerbated by illness.
In addition, your staff should be trained to recognize emergency situations where no payment is required at the time of service.
Dealing with someone’s financial obligation should never get personal. Your staff must always remain professional and stick to the facts. They should never get into arguments, but always listen first and remain empathetic to your patient’s financial circumstances.
Keep everything confidential
It is crucial that all discussions of patient accounts be kept strictly confidential. All conversations should be private, and interruptions should be minimized.
Everyone on your staff should be kept up-to-date on collection policies and procedures, but those in AR need to be the experts. Your AR staff should have intensive training in collection procedures, including role playing difficult patient interactions.
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